IN SIGHT OF STARS by Gae Polisner
9781250143839
Ages 14 to 18IN SIGHT OF STARS is an emotional, full-hearted teen novel about love, loss, and mental health from award-winning author, Gae Polisner. When seventeen-year-old Klee’s father dies, he’s forced to move to the suburbs and live with his mother. Klee then meets Sarah in art class and it seems as if she’s the only thing that makes him happy, until an act of betrayal sends him to a psychiatric hospital. Told in alternating timelines leading up to the event that gets him committed and working towards getting back out, this is a novel about what makes us fall apart and how we can put ourselves back together again.

“Polisner captures the chaos and fog in Klee’s brain as he tries to grab hold of his life. The result is a raw, enthralling rendering of pain that overwhelms a teen.” —Booklist, starred review

“An unapologetic and wry story about a teen finding his way out of a personal crisis.” —Kirkus Reviews

INDECENT by Corinne Sullivan
9781250147073
YA/Adult Crossover
When shy, introverted Imogene Abney is offered a teaching position at the Vandenberg School for Boys, an all-boys prep school in Westchester, New York, she immediately accepts, despite having little teaching experience—and very little experience with boys. It’s there where she meets Adam Kipling, a popular and handsome student who exudes charm and status and ease. As an obsessive, illicit affair begins between them, Imogene is so lost in the haze of first love that she’s unable to recognize the danger she’s in. The danger of losing her job. The danger of losing herself in the wrong person. The danger of being caught doing something possibly illegal and so indecent.

“This is an affecting novel, examining self-doubt, self-sabotage, and the lasting impact of both.” —Publishers Weekly

“A good read for those who enjoy boarding school-based novels, including Jessica Anya Blau’s THE TROUBLE WITH LEXIE, and Amy Poeppel’s SMALL ADMISSIONS.” —Library Journal

A SINGLE SPY by William ChristieTwo starred reviews! During WWII, young Russian spy with divided loyalties, under deep cover in Nazi Germany, uncovers an assassination plot that could change the course of history. “With detailed historical events, compelling characters, and plenty of heart-grabbing moments, this novel is intensely engaging from the first page. Alexsi is complex and fully drawn; this is a spy who gains the reader’s trust while never showing his hand. Christie’s fabulous novel of historical espionage will appeal to both World War II fiction buffs and spy novel/thriller aficionados. Extremely well done.” — Library Journal, starred & boxed review

INCENDIARY: The Psychiatrist, the Mad Bomber, and the Invention of Criminal Profiling by Michael Cannell
Long before the specter of terrorism haunted the public imagination, a serial bomber stalked 1950s New York. The race to catch him would give birth to a new science called criminal profiling. You can also follow the “Mad Bomber” throughout NYC in this interactive map! “A fascinating study not just of a historical crime and its consequences, but also its unintended effects.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

Spies and detectives and murderers, oh my!

A DIVIDED SPY by Charles CummingTwo starred reviews! A former MI6 officer, Thomas Kell devoted his life to the Service, but it has left him with nothing but grief and a simmering anger against the Kremlin. Then Kell is offered an unexpected chance at revenge. Taking the law into his own hands, he embarks on a mission to recruit a top Russian spy and finds himself in a high stakes game of cat and mouse in which it becomes increasingly difficult to know who is playing whom. “Bestseller Cumming’s nuanced, suspenseful third Thomas Kell novel… unfold[s] in a perfectly constructed plot that proves once again that Cumming is among today’s top spy thriller writers. ” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

AMONG THE RUINS by Ausma Zehanat Khan
In Khan’s third powerful mystery, Detective Esa Khattak is on leave in Iran when he’s asked to investigate the murder of Canadian-Iranian filmmaker Zahra Sobhani at Iran’s notorious Evin prison. Khattak quickly finds himself embroiled in Iran’s tumultuous politics and under surveillance by the regime, but when the trail leads to Zahra’s family in Canada, Khattak calls on his partner, Detective Rachel Getty, for help. “Deeply political without becoming pedantic, Khan’s crime novel offers a fictionalized yet very real look at a region that is steeped in both beauty and misery.” — Library Journal, starred reviewreadmoreremove

We’re seeing many stars for these great genre reads:

BY GASLIGHT by Steven Price
“With its intricate cat-and-mouse game, array of idiosyncratic characters, and brooding atmosphere, BY GASLIGHT has much to please fans of both classic suspense and Victorian fiction.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

BLACK WATER by Louise Doughty
“Another morally and emotionally fraught thriller from British writer Doughty (APPLE TREE YARD), this one about an operative for an Amsterdam-based black-ops organization grappling with fallout from his personal and professional history in Indonesia. Powerful, probing fiction in the tradition of Graham Greene and John le Carré.” — Kirkus Reviews, starred review

“Doughty takes a page from John le Carré, crafting a riveting, psychological, morally ambiguous tale. Harper’s backstory is richly detailed, and his budding relationship with Rita is convincing. Finally, the role of mercenaries in world affairs adds a new perspective to the spy novel genre.” — Library Journal, starred review

DESOLATION FLATS by Andrew Hunt
“Set in 1938, Hunt’s outstanding third mystery featuring Mormon policeman Art Oveson (after A KILLING IN ZION) combines a moving portrayal of a man attempting to deal with his wife’s depression with a clever whodunit story line. The richness of the characters, including secondary ones, and the imaginative plot make this the best yet in the series.” — Publishers Weekly, starred review

“[A] knockout of a novel… so powerful it can be taken as a stand-alone. The real magic here, though, is the author’s ability to make this ordinary man so fascinating. Credit Hunt’s writing. Like his hero, it’s only plain on the surface.” — Booklist, starred reviewreadmoreremove

Amelia Levene, the first female Chief of MI6, has disappeared just weeks before she is due to take over as the most influential spy in Europe. Desperate to find her and keep her disappearance a secret, Britain’s top intelligence agents turn to one of their own: disgraced MI6 officer Thomas Kell.

"Cumming is particularly skilled at sketching his characters, most notably Kell (a classically reluctant spy) and Weldon, who’s haunted by personal demons central to the elaborate puzzle of a story. The elegant prose will appeal to those who don’t usually read spy fiction." -Publishers Weekly (starred review)

"Steinhauer's remarkable portrayal of the trilogy's Weaver has garnered comparisons with John le Carré. A huge fan of le Carré, Steinhauer calls THINKER, TAILOR, SOLDIER, SPY 'a wholly literary novel.' It seems clear that Steinhauer, in that spirit is trying to marry literary devotion to craft and seriousness with the compelling narratives of genre. A lot of today's spy fiction 'is interested in how spies work,' he says. 'I'm interested in how people deceive each other.'"

Steinhauer also offers some interesting commentary on his writing process. He says,

"I write myself into a corner, then get stuck, then get an idea, then change everything... If it went smoothly, I'd be worried."

Publishers Weekly also gave AN AMERICAN SPY a starred review and said,

"Steinhauer is particularly good at articulating contemporary spy craft—the mechanics of surveillance and intelligence in the digital age and the depth of paranoia endemic to the trade. In addition, his ability to create characters with genuine emotions and conflicts, coupled with an insightful and often poetic writing style, set him apart in the world of espionage fiction."